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The fire happened Saturday morning. Officials said it caused $5 to $9 million in damage.

The McKinley building was built in the late 1800s to defend Portland Harbor during the Spanish-American war.

"This is a project that means a tremendous amount to this community. We're going to use every effort we have to see what we can do to move forward," said developer David Bateman.

Bateman has devoted decades of his life to seeing the building come back to life.

"I started this back in the 80s, and this has been a real commitment for myself and my family and will continue to be," Bateman said.

Gary Page, with Weathertech, one of many construction companies working on the building, said the fire is devastating.

Page said the hotel was about 90 percent complete and on track to finish by the Dec. 19 deadline.

"The last few weeks, you've seen guys come together and really try to nail this deadline, and I think we would have done it, had this fire not taken place," Page said.

Now, he said, they've lost thousands of dollars' worth of tools and lost wages.

"These things happen, and they happen in an instant, and there's nothing we could've done to prevent this at any point. But when things like this do happen, you'll see people try to come together and rebuild," Page said.

This is not the first time the developer has had to deal with a fire on the island. Twenty-five years ago, another one of his buildings was destroyed by arson. His management company is called Phoenix, a mythical bird known for rising from its own ashes.